For middle-class women of a certain age, redundancy, divorce and illness are the triplet of financial torpedos that can blow up a previously comfortable existence.

When the solid-seeming foundations supporting our lives are ripped away, the emotional and financial fall-out is profound.

No one, male or female, is immune to shocks. But women face particular challenges in bouncing back.

The march of AI into the workplace has led to well-founded fears that the equal opportunities women fought so hard to win are being bulldozed in front of our eyes.

Women aged over 55 are being overtaken in their careers by young, male tech bros, according to recent research by Google. Even the most tech-savvy can find their CV thrown in the digital bin by sexist bots who couldn’t care less about decades of achievement.

Which is why an article in the Daily Mail last week by fifty-something former fashion editor Stacey Duguid struck such a chord with so many of her peer group.

Stacey’s problems finding a job after taking time off work following a divorce plunged her into a stomach-churning downfall from a six-figure salary to the JobCentre.

None of us is immune from a financial shock, no matter how enviable our careers – but it need not turn into a full-blown midlife money meltdown. A descent like Stacey’s is every middle-class woman’s worst nightmare and I’m not going to pretend to have a magic set of answers.

However, I have navigated potential financial crises myself, including my husband’s cancer diagnosis and, more recently, my move from a full-time executive job to starting my own business.

My message, based on my experience and 30 years of writing about money, is this: the more financial control and confidence a woman acquires, the greater her chances of surviving life’s disasters and maybe even coming out stronger.

This is not merely a feminist manifesto. The more financially resilient we are, the better we can step up for our families.

My mum’s earnings as a teacher kept our household afloat when my father was made redundant in the 1990s. Similarly, I was thankful to able to act as breadwinner when my husband was laid low with cancer. I’ve talked to three female financial experts – and one male one – on how to beat a midlife money meltdown.

Knowledge is power

‘One of the best ways for women to build resilience is to take an active role in your finances,’ says Clare Moffat, tax and pensions expert at Royal London.

In other words, if you have a partner, do not leave the finances to them. Ideally, have open, regular conversations about money and be aware of one another’s savings, investments and debts.

‘Financial independence isn’t about having to manage everything on your own. It’s about having enough knowledge and confidence, so you’re not left in the dark if circumstances change,’ adds Moffat. ‘Taking decisive action can help protect your financial future.’

Stacey Duguid has faced problems finding a job after taking time off work following a divorce

Control your spending

Going through your outgoings to identify wasteful and needless spending is a good regular practice.

Why are you paying for a subscription you haven’t used for years? Check out comparison sites to see if you can cut bills. The boss of Moneysupermarket.com’s parent company told me last week that his customers collectively saved around £3 billion last year by using the site.

Almost all of us could pare back on household bills. That money can be put to work for you to build financial muscle for the future.

Thinking of safety first

A girl’s best friend is not diamonds but an emergency fund.

Financial advisers recommend setting aside six months to a year’s outgoings.

That sounds a lot – but even small, regular amounts accumulate over time.

How much is enough really? Lisa Doig, a financial adviser with Thorntons Wealth, says: ‘It’s all relative to your wealth, but £20,000 is a comfortable amount for many. That would cover a new boiler, a deposit for a car and so forth.’

Building up some wealth 

Having a cash emergency fund that you can access quickly is essential. The problem with deposit accounts, however, is they have a nasty habit of losing value because of inflation. The best way, therefore, to accumulate long-term wealth is to invest in stocks and shares.

‘One of the best ways for women to build resilience is to take an active role in your finances,’ says Clare Moffat, tax and pensions expert at Royal London

It’s possible to do this with small, regular sums from £25 a month. Spread the risk by buying funds such as investment trusts that hold a collection of shares and other assets. If you use an Individual Savings Account (Isa), it’s tax-free.

‘Research suggests that women are actually better investors than men,’ says Richard Watkins, a chartered financial planner at Continuum. ‘They trade less, leave ego and emotion out of decisions and plan for the long term.

‘This results in better performance of around 0.8 pc a year, which might not sound much but turns into a significant outperformance over 20 years or more.’

If you start in midlife, you might even become an Isa millionairess.

Take inspiration from Jane Barr, now 77, who retired in her 50s after a divorce. She built up a portfolio worth just over £2million in her Isas by investing regular amounts from her modest salary, as she explained to my colleague Jeff Prestridge.

Prioritise pensions

Never neglect your pension. It is essential for the fabulous ‘future you’ who will emerge from the current crisis.

Because of generally lower pay and career breaks to care for children, women typically retire with savings worth around 55 pc less than men.

So pay as much into a pension plan as you can, whenever you can.

In an ideal world, women would have been building their financial strength gradually, so that when a trauma strikes they start off well-equipped to handle it. Even if that is not the case, midlife is not too late to bounce back.

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If you work for an employer, you will benefit from free payments from them into your plan, as well as tax relief on contributions at your highest rate.

‘Making pension saving a priority throughout your career, and being confident about negotiating pay and progression, can make a significant difference to financial security in later life,’ says Moffat.

In divorces, pensions are often overlooked, even though they are usually the biggest asset after the family home.

As a consequence, divorced women reach retirement with around 61 pc less private pension wealth than divorced men. Don’t let that be you.

Know your rights and make sure you get what you’re entitled to. There are three main options when dealing with pensions in a divorce. You can share them on a clean-break basis, one partner can earmark some of the income to be paid out after retirement or you can offset their value against other assets.

If you are made redundant and don’t need to use your entire settlement, it may make sense to stash some of it in your pension, particularly if you are close to the age of being able to draw on it.

You can pay up to £60,000 or 100 pc of your annual earnings, whichever is the lowest, into your pension each year.

That will boost your retirement income and save tax.

‘Paying part of a redundancy package into a pension can be a tax-efficient option,’ adds Moffat.

If you are aged 55 or over, you can start drawing your private pension, but bear in mind that means less in the pot for later.

Invest in yourself

The best investment you can make is in yourself.

Up-to-date skills are crucial for midlife women. Mid-level admin and service roles typically held by women are under particular threat from AI.

Kate Alessi, the boss of Google in the UK and herself a midlife woman, recently commissioned research that found only 4 pc of women aged over 55 are advanced AI users.

She says: ‘There is a risk existing inequalities will become more entrenched, so it’s important we address this, but the good news is that it is very solvable. It is quite simple for anyone to use AI skills.’

For details of online AI courses, including for beginners, see the government hub: aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ or type grow.google into your search bar.

Even if you feel secure in your career right now, it is worth keeping your professional profile up to date on LinkedIn and other networking and job sites. Invest in real-life friendships and professional contacts.

Human beings who know how brilliant you are will be far more likely to help you find work than a sexist, ageist bot.

Self-employment is another route. I’m working like a demon now I am in business for myself, but I love being my own boss.

Don’t panic

The immediate period after a trauma is not an ideal time to make big financial decisions such as selling a property.

Wait until emotions have calmed and consider consulting a professional financial adviser.

‘I often work with women going through divorce in midlife, mainly coming out of long marriages and not used to handling the finances,’ says Louise Oliver, a financial expert at Piercefield Oliver.

‘They reach out to me as an expert and they often feel safer with me being a female financial planner.’

Unfortunately, only 16 pc of advisers are female, according to Louise, who adds: ‘The same emotions and principles can apply to redundancy.’

Richard Watkins advises keeping a sense of perspective. In most cases, he says women can handle midlife shocks without a catastrophe.

‘Full-on money meltdowns among professional women are actually fairly rare in my experience,’ he says.

‘Women today can earn more and may inherit more than their mothers did. In my experience, professional women are articulate and well able to act on financial matters.’

Divorce, redundancy or both in midlife may feel like the end of the world. But Lisa Doig says: ‘It doesn’t have to be.

‘I am on my second divorce and it’s actually a happy one.’

You can obtain free information from organisations such as the government-backed Pension Wise, but not advice or recommendations.

For individual advice to fit your personal circumstances, you need a qualified adviser regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

You can find an adviser on websites such as unbiased.co.uk or vouchedfor.co.uk, which show details of companies in your area or that suit your needs.

Initial meetings with a financial adviser, lasting an hour or so, are usually free. That is a very useful resource, but keep in mind an hour isn’t long when discussing decisions that could shape the rest of your life.

It’s not too late

In an ideal world, women would have been building their financial strength gradually, so that when a trauma strikes they start off well-equipped to handle it.

Even if that is not the case, midlife is not too late to bounce back.

‘Financial resilience isn’t built overnight, but small steps taken today can make it much easier to cope with whatever life throws at you tomorrow,’ says Moffat.

‘A setback in your 40s or 50s doesn’t mean you can’t rebuild.’

5 tips to survive and thrive

Take stock: Get a clear, unemotional picture of debts, assets and spending. A short pause for breath will produce better outcomes than panic moves.

Consider independent advice: Heightened emotions can lead to poor decisions. Friends and family may not be objective. A professional adviser may be the answer.

Self-belief: Research from bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Lives survey has repeatedly found that women report lower financial confidence than men, even when their underlying knowledge is comparable. That can lead to excessive fear and caution. Back yourself.

Rent a room: The Rent a Room scheme allows up to £7,500 a year tax-free for a single owner letting out a spare room in their main home.

Monetise a hobby: A good friend began making money in her 60s from her hobby by offering workshops on how to make jewellery from sea glass. Baking, sewing, tutoring, photography and writing may all be ways of bringing in income. 

Have you survived a financial meltdown? Email moneymail@dailymail.co.uk

The Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker has been reduced to its lowest price to date on Amazon UK – ideal for summer holidays and garden parties in 2026

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Summer holidays and garden gatherings are upon us – and nothing captures that holiday feeling quite like brilliant music. Amazon has unveiled a discount on one of its best-selling speakers just in time.

The Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker has dropped in price from £39.99 to £24.98 in an offer labelled as ‘selling fast’ on the e-commerce platform. The manufacturer boasts “unbelievable sound” from this “powerful” device – and customers have been thoroughly impressed, awarding it an average of 4.7 out of five stars across more than 140,000 reviews.

Now reduced by 38% – taking the device to its lowest ever price, according to Amazon price tracker CamelCamelCamel – this speaker’s features include 24 hours of playback from a single charge alongside waterproof construction. These key attributes, combined with its portable and lightweight design, make it perfect for outdoor use or summer travel, reports the Daily Star.

The £24.98 cost also positions the Anker Soundcore 2 as a more affordable alternative to other well-reviewed Bluetooth speakers. Take, for instance, TechRadar’s top recommendation, the JBL Flip 7, which the publication described as “a compact yet mighty speaker that has it all”, but carries a substantially steeper price of £99.99 on the manufacturer’s site.

In a similar vein, What Hi-Fi? crowned the JBL Charge 6 as their top pick, currently available for £129.99 directly from the manufacturer and at major retailers including Argos and Currys. Despite commanding a premium price, reviewers hailed the JBL Charge 6 as “about as good as a Bluetooth speaker gets at this level”, praising its “clear, detailed, hugely confident” audio performance.

Meanwhile on Amazon, the Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker has earned particular praise as an ideal companion for summer getaways, outdoor excursions and garden gatherings, according to customer feedback.

One satisfied customer shared: “I bought this little Bluetooth speaker with the intention for us to take on hotel trips and holidays to have a little music on the go, not so loud as to disturb other guests. It’s a great size for this sort of task, taking up minimal space in a weekend bag or a carry-on.”

Another buyer agreed: “Bought this to take on holiday and am seriously impressed! A lot louder than I was expecting and the bass is great. Haven’t had to recharge it yet, so very happy with the battery life as well.”

A third customer commented: “Bought for a festival this summer, lasted the whole weekend and the sound was good. Would recommend for the price.”

While another user noted: “Great speaker – used for a garden party and was very happy with the sound. Everyone liked it – some even bought one for themselves.”

While 80% of customers have awarded the Anker Soundcore 2 a perfect five-star rating, the speaker hasn’t won over everyone. “Sound is quite deep and have to alter sound in my Android sound settings every time,” one customer reported.

Another reviewer observed: “It does seem to get way quieter the father you get from it than any other source of sound I’ve heard before, which has its pros and cons – you won’t disturb the neighbours even on full volume, but it’s not great for say a larger party in the garden.”

What are the barriers to girls sticking with sport?

How parents can support girls to stick with sport throughout school

1. Don’t always focus on winning

2. Treat confidence dips ‘like growth spurts’

3. Talk about sport differently

4. Encourage them to keep up sport even during exam season

5. Schools can play a part, too

Passer’s by surrounded and tried to get Neil Jones, 48, out of his car after he attacked dad holding a child at a pedestrian crossing

A reckless driver “saw red” at a shopping centre just over a year after killing a 72-year-old “devoted” nan. Linda Donnelly died after being struck by a Ford Focus as she crossed Brewster Street in Bootle, Liverpool, in December 2024.

The driver, Neil Jones, falsely claimed his victim had “just run out in front of him” before, just over a year on, almost driving his vehicle into a family enjoying a day out at the Coliseum Retail Park in Ellesmere Port. Yet rather than showing remorse and apologising for another instance of dangerous driving, he flew into a terrifying bout of road rage, which left another man “screaming in pain” after his legs became trapped between two cars.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday (July 28), that Mrs Donnelly, known as Lin, was crossing Brewster Street at approximately 7.45pm on December 12, 2024. Footage captured the pensioner reaching the central reservation before continuing into the second section of the dual carriageway.

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She was said to have been in the road for around four seconds before being hit by Jones’ car.

Members of her family were visibly in tears in the public gallery as Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, outlined how a taxi driver travelling behind the 48-year-old’s vehicle “saw something fly into the air” following the collision. Occupants of another car stopped to administer first aid, while the defendant told witnesses: “I hit her, I hit her. It was an accident.”

Jones, of Morningside Road in Norris Green, Liverpool, was described as having “presented as extremely upset and distressed” at the scene, where he was seen “pacing up and down” while saying “oh my God, oh my God”.

He was also overheard stating during a phone call: “I’m really sorry. I don’t know what happened. She just walked in front me.”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

In this call, Jones went on to add that it was “really dark and he couldn’t see anything”, while he subsequently told a police officer who attended the incident that he was “driving along, and the next minute a woman just ran out in front of his car and he didn’t see her”. But Ms Baqri added: “The footage clearly shows that Mrs Donnelly did not run into the road.”

With Mrs Donnelly having lived mere metres from the scene with her husband, he was “alerted to something go on but didn’t realise the accident involved his wife” before also arriving at the site of the crash. Paramedics made “considerable efforts at resuscitation” at the roadside, but she was later pronounced dead at Aintree Hospital as a result of “multiple injuries” sustained during the collision.

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Jones was arrested at the scene and went on to “perform well” during impairment tests at Walton Police Station. He subsequently told detectives under interview that he “simply didn’t see Mrs Donnelly in the road”.

Investigations found that Jones had been travelling at roughly 45mph, or between 39mph and 51mph, on the 30mph road at the time of the fatal crash. Ms Baqri said of this: “It is the crown’s case that, if the defendant had been travelling at the legal limit of 30mph, the tragedy could have been avoided.”

Just over a year later, at around 3.15pm on December 23 2025, retired police officer Martin Alwyn was at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet in Ellesmere Port with his two adults sons and two grandchildren, aged five and nine. But, while crossing the road towards a restaurant, Jones then “drove his car towards them at speed”.

Ms Baqri told the court: “Mr Alwyn thought that the defendant was going far too fast for that built up area. It was very busy, given the time of day. There were lot of pedestrians milling about. According to Mr Alwyn, the defendant narrowly missed making contact with his son by a matter of inches. The defendant seemed to make no effort to slow down.”

One of Mr Alwyn’s sons, Mark Brough, shouted for Jones to slow down as a result, with Ms Baqri adding: “He had a couple soft toys in his hand, keeping the children occupied. He threw them towards the car. These bounced off the back and hit the floor.”

Another witness, Mark Kimpton, meanwhile recalled seeing Jones “flying in his car and going so fast that he was within inches of hitting Mr Alwyn and his family”. But the driver reacted to the cuddly toys being thrown by “slamming on his brakes” and stopping his Ford Focus in a disabled parking space.

Ms Baqri said: “In a red mist of rage, he got out his car and approached them. He approached the family group and accused them of having damaged his car. His demeanour was described as aggressive. He looked and acted as though he was up for a fight.”

Jones was then reported to have shouted towards his victims: “What have you done to my f***ing car? Who the f*** are you? I’ll f***ing kick your head in. Don’t you dare throw anything at my car or I’ll smash your face.”

Having “got into Mr Alwyn’s face”, Jones pushed this complainant to the chest, causing him to stumble backwards, before throwing punches at both him and Mr Brough, making contact with the latter’s cheek. Members of Mrs Donnelly’s family were heard to gasp in court as it was heard that he had been holding his child at the time he was assaulted.

With the children becoming “visibly distressed” as a result of the violence, Mr Kimpton attempted to intervene and told Jones to “just leave it and get back in his car”. But he instead warned that he was “going to take them all on” and produced a claw hammer after “rummaging around” in his boot.

Having brandished the weapon above his head, Jones was said to have “charged towards” Mr Kimpton and swung the instrument towards him “at least twice”. Ms Baqri said of this: “Fortunately for Mr Kimpton, the hammer did not make contact.

“It would seem that, as quickly as the incident commenced, the defendant seemed to gather his senses and realised the gravity of what he was doing and stopped. He then got back into his car. Because of the furore, security staff attended and surrounded the defendant’s car, together with members of the public, in order to detain him. The defendant, feeling that he was trapped or surrounded, reversed his car.

“That manoeuvre caused him to collide with another car, which momentarily trapped Mr [Jonathan] Adamson in between the two vehicles. Mr Adamson describes pain shooting through his legs. He told the police that he was trapped for a few seconds.

“The defendant then drove forwards but reversed again, such that, once again, Mr Adamson was pinned between the two cars. He shouted and screamed out in pain. The defendant then drove forwards and sped off out of the car park. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who witnessed this incident were alarmed and distressed.”

When interviewed on this occasion, Jones “sought to blame everybody else” and “claimed that he was the one being attacked and simply had to resort to brandishing the hammer in order to defend himself”. He has a total of 23 previous convictions for 34 offences, with a “majority for theft” and several for breaches of court orders.

Jones was also caught speeding on five occasions in 2022, 2023 and 2024, while he was handed suspended prison sentences for assaults in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and fined for assaulting two police officers in 2018. Callum Ross, defending, said on his behalf: “He accepts, given his plea, that, ultimately, he is responsible for the tragic death of Mrs Donnelly as a result of his carless driving. To put it very bluntly, he will have to live with that for the rest of his life.

“He has to accept that, 12 months later, he commits further offence. Fortunately, no serious injury was caused, but that is perhaps more luck than anything else. He wishes for me to say on his behalf how sorry he is for his actions and how sorry he is for the tragic consequences that are attributable to them. He has, since the Chester offences, surrendered his driving licence to the DVLA. He has no desire to ever drive again.

“Your honour will have noted his previous caring responsibilities in relation to his disabled cousin. The defendant hopes, upon release, to resume that role for him. He has four children who he has been seeing regularly, including in custody, albeit plainly that is a difficult set of circumstances for him. Your honour will have noted mental health difficulties, being diagnosed with depression and medicated for it.”

Jones admitted causing death by careless driving, dangerous driving, making threats with an offensive weapon and two counts of assault. He appeared emotional in the dock at times during the hearing, including wiping his eyes with a tissue, before he was jailed for 51 months.

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Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: “It was dark because of the time of night and, of course, it was the winter, but there was nothing external to your driving which contributed to the outcome. The careless driving for which I have to sentence you, which caused Mrs Donnelly’s death, was that you exceeded the speed limit by about 50%.

“But for your driving, there is every reason to suppose that she would be alive today. I accept that you did not intend her the slightest harm. You were not driving dangerously, you were driving carelessly. Because of those features, the statutory maximum for the worst possible type of case after conviction by a jury is five years imprisonment.

“I have to sentence you in the context of the available sentences provided by parliament for offences of this nature. I say now that which will be obvious. This court’s entire sympathy is with Mrs Donnelly’s family and friends. No sentence this court could ever pass is meant to be an equivalent of her life, nor could it ever be.

“It is accepted that you have bad antecedents. Particularly relevant are the five speeding offences in the months before you killed Mrs Donnelly. I accept your remorse as being genuine. I take account of the bad delay in the prosecution of this case.

“It falls within the context of another similar offence, in many ways, a year later. You were in your car again at Cheshire Oaks a couple of days before Christmas. The place was very, very busy, families taking their children and grandchildren out, amongst whom were Mr Alwyn, Mr Brough and the grandchildren.

“You drove far too quickly in very busy circumstances and thereby almost collided with members of Mr Alwyn’s family. Instead of simply apologising and driving on, you took the trouble to park up in a disabled bay, get in their faces in a frightening and worrying way, the children no doubt wondering what on Earth was going on as this aggressive man came over to where they were.

“You took the trouble to go into the boot of your car, remove a claw hammer and go back over to where they were, then wield the hammer around in circumstances which were such that you put yourself a hair’s breadth away from being charged with an attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.”

Jones was also banned from driving for 51 months and ordered to pass an extended retest. He was meanwhile given restraining orders preventing him from contacting members of Mrs Donnelly’s family and his victims in the second incident for seven years.

Zack Polanski has refused to apologise after he shared an image to his Instagram page featuring a man in a T-shirt that appeared to threaten Nigel Farage.

The Green Party leader also accused Farage of being ‘fundamentally dishonest’ in the way he responded to the post and said he himself had been put in a ‘dangerous spot’ due to Reform’s broader reaction.

Polanski says he inadvertently accepted a collaboration post on the social media site without looking through all the pictures that were included in it.

Among the photographs was a portrait of a man in a shirt with a guillotine and the slogan: ‘We’re only making plans for Nigel.’

Reform UK responded furiously to the post, saying it represented a threat to the life of their party leader and reporting Polanski to the police.

Farage, the leader of Reform, said: ‘If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski.’

On Monday, the Metropolitan Police said: ‘We take reports of this nature extremely seriously, and officers are conducting enquiries into the matter.’

In an appearance on Newsnight yesterday, Polanski declined to apologise to Farage for sharing the picture, saying he did not need to as it was not done deliberately.

He said: ‘If I’d done it deliberately, I’d be apologising.

‘But because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it’s a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence, and also – crucially – I make a commitment to be better on my social media.’

The Green leader added that the picture ‘got less than 1,000 likes’ when it was first posted and has now had 3.2 million views.

He said he believed it was ‘fundamentally dishonest’ for Farage to crop the screenshot to make it look like he posted it himself.

Polanski continued: ‘I’m accepting my responsibility, in that I shouldn’t have accepted that collaboration. I’m accepting that we all need to condemn political violence.

‘But I also think the reporting to the police, the ramping up of the language to say this is incitement to murder [Farage], feels like that’s also putting me in a dangerous spot.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Polanski and Farage battle it out – while Burnham laughs to the top of the polls

MORE: Zack Polanski ‘condemns poor taste’ guillotine t-shirt after Farage calls police

MORE: Reform mayoral candidate said she’s ‘rubbish with money’ and ‘not good at rules’

Cambridgeshire County Council is facing calls for transparency after the payment was revealed by a Freedom of Information request

Cambridgeshire County Council is facing calls for transparency over a six figure sum paid to a college after which they dropped their objections to a guided busway route. Clare Hall, one of the poorest Cambridge colleges, spent £537,483.75 opposing the busway route running along Rifle Range Road.

They had argued this would be “more operationally difficult to deliver, environmentally damaging, and economically expensive” than the Adams Road route.

A Freedom of Information request revealed the county council signed a confidential agreement with the college in which they paid them a total of £158,863 towards their “reasonable costs” after which they dropped their objections.

This was made up of a £48,000 payment to legal firm Dentons, £10,863 to property advisors Newsteer and a fixed sum of £100,000 for the college’s “reasonable legal and other professional costs (including surveyor’s costs)”.

Green Party councillors wrote to the county council’s chief executive, Dr Stephen Moir, asking for a “full and transparent explanation” for the payment.

It said: “We would like to see Cambridgeshire County Council release an official statement to either confirm or deny these claims, clearly and transparently setting out the terms of any agreement made with Clare Hall as well as who was aware of this deal.”

Cllr Peter Rees, of Newnham, said that he had asked three times for an explanation about the sudden withdrawal of their objection but never received a response.

He said: “Residents were surprised by Clare Hall’s sudden withdrawal of their objection and asked me for information. I asked the Council three times in late 2025 and early 2026, but they never gave a response.”

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire County Council said they are looking into this as an internal matter and will not comment further until their enquiries are completed.

Documents from a separate FOI request submitted by a resident, showed Cambridgeshire County Council had considered Adams Road a choice “early in scheme development”. They said they consulted on the choice in 2017 and 2018 when Rifle Range was selected as “the best performing option”.

When the Cambridge Autonomous Metro was being considered, they revisited the choice as the scheme may have “rendered the Rifle Range section of CtoC redundant”.

They said this “significantly altered the scoring for ‘Future Proofing’ in favour of Adams Road” and suggested it “was the better performing option”. But the council said “no formal decisions were taken at this time”.

They held “stakeholder workshops” with local residents on September 17 and November 5 in 2019 and “opposition to the use of Adams Road was voiced by residents represented by North Newnham Residents Association”.

Two meetings of Greater Cambridge Partnership’s Joint Assembly discussed the plans on January 30 and June 4, 2020, at which they said “significant public concern” was noted over the Adams Road option.

They said there was “particular focus on the need to consider cyclists and cycling safety along with forecast growth of cycling from the West Cambridge site”.

Russia’s main domestic security agency said Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with aiding terrorism and put on an international wanted list.

The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as the Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. It is part of a long-term effort to bring the internet under the Kremlin’s full control that has intensified since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB, accused Telegram’s administration in a statement of failing to remove “numerous channels, chats and bots” that are “actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud” in Russia, which resulted in “numerous human casualties.”

The agency accused Ukrainian security services of using a popular dating chat bot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russians for “sabotage and terrorist activities,” and said 46 users of the chat bot, from 12 to 22 years old, have been detained across Russia since July 2025.

Durov earlier this year announced that the Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation against him and accused them of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram as part of an attempt to “suppress the right to privacy and free speech.”

If convicted, Durov could face up to life in prison in Russia.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities have engaged in multipronged efforts to rein in the internet. They have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that don’t comply and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

Multiple popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, have been banned in Russia; YouTube has been throttled; popular messaging apps, such as Signal and Viber, have been blocked, and the most popular ones — WhatsApp and Telegram — have been restricted.

While it’s still possible to circumvent some of the restrictions by using virtual private network services, many of them are routinely blocked, too.

At the same time, Russia actively promotes the “national” messaging app known as MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance. The platform is touted by developers and officials as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments and more. It openly declares it will share user data with authorities upon request, and experts also say it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption.

Durov has faced criminal investigations elsewhere. In 2024, he was arrested in Paris over allegations that his platform was being used for illicit activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images.

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This story has been corrected to show the potential penalty is life in prison, not 15 years.

Uefa’s 55 member associations will hold an emergency meeting later this week to discuss Fifa’s controversial proposals to sell stakes in its major competitions.

Football’s world governing body has said it wants to create a new commercial subsidiary to run its main events, including the World Cup, and external investors will be able to buy stakes in it.

That has prompted fears that too much influence in those competitions will be handed to private investors, although Fifa says it will enable more money to be distributed to football associations around the globe.

European football’s governing body took the remarkable step of issuing a response to Fifa’s plans before they had been published on Tuesday, responding to initial reports in the Financial Times and the Times as it condemned the plans, saying they had “crossed a line”.

The meeting will be held virtually and offer the opportunity to work out a plan of action.

Given the strength of feeling – the Football Association says it was not consulted before Fifa released its proposals shortly after Uefa’s statement was made public – it would be a surprise if the possibility of a boycott was not at least raised.

While Uefa knows it only accounts for a quarter of Fifa’s 211-country membership, the body includes most of the world’s most successful teams.

Six of the eight quarter-finalists – and the winners, Spain – at this summer’s World Cup were European. In the 2022 and 2018 editions the figures were five and six respectively.

Uefa knows any competition Fifa puts together would be far less valuable if its members were not involved.

Fifa’s argument that it is compelled to look at proposals that would help it grow the game globally has led to fears that, in the search for greater revenue, its major competitions – the men’s and women’s World Cup and corresponding Club World Cup – could be played more often and include more participants.

That would have huge implications for the football calendar, which is already squeezed, partly because of the expansion of European club competitions.

One senior source within the English game told BBC Sport that the threat posed by Fifa’s plan is one of the biggest the game has faced and is on a par with the European Super League, which created such controversy in 2021 and was scrapped within 48 hours.

It seems improbable that Fifa will back down in the same manner.

Fifa said its plan is to extend global development funding to $10bn (£7.5bn). It is also planning to offer each of the 211 member associations the opportunity to access up to $20m (£15m) in one-off capital.

This latest escalation extends a difficult relationship between Fifa and Uefa, which responded angrily to attempts to host the World Cup every two years when the idea was floated by former Arsenal manager and Fifa’s current chief of global football development Arsene Wenger in 2021.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin boycotted the World Cup final this month in protest at a number of controversial moves.

They included US President Donald Trump stepping in to help turn USA forward Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban into a suspended ban, allowing him to play in the last-16 encounter with Belgium.

By AMELIA WYNNE, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER

Published: 22:53 BST, 28 July 2026 | Updated: 08:24 BST, 29 July 2026

Lorraine Kelly‘s daughter Rosie is married!

The influencer, 32, tied the knot with her partner Steve White in Scotland last weekend and shared the happy news on Instagram on Tuesday.

Taking to her Story she shared a snap of her hotel room as she looked back on the past few days, penning:  ‘Well we got married…

‘Decompressing in Edinburgh after the most special weekend of our lives – will share more soon but taking the time to just soak it all up.’

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Steve proposed to Rosie two years ago in June 2024 while Rosie was pregnant with their first child.

Two months later they welcomed their adorable baby girl Billie – making Lorraine a grandma.

Lorraine Kelly’s daughter Rosie is married! The influencer, 32, tied the knot with her partner Steve White in Scotland last weekend (pictured at her hen party last month)

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Lorraine and Rosie seen together in May 2026

Lorraine has previously said she feels like she is getting a second chance at motherhood as she opened up about being a grandma. 

The star and her husband Steve Smith have recently moved just six minutes away from their daughter’s family, and the legendary broadcaster admitted she is ‘getting a chance to be a mum again’ after the challenges of raising Rosie while she was working. 

Speaking about being a grandma to the Daily Mail, Lorraine said: ‘It’s great. To be honest with you, I’m getting a chance to be a mum again in a way.

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‘I’m not being a mum again because [Rosie’s] her mum and she’s got her mum, but I’m getting a chance to do it again and hopefully to do it better.’

Reflecting on juggling motherhood and her career she explained: ‘Because when I had Rosie I was in my 30s, I think I was 34 and I was working and it’s always harder if you’re the mother.’

Praising her daughter she continued: ‘I think you’re amazing. She’s incredible, absolutely incredible. I don’t know how you do everything that you do, but it’s lovely when it’s your grandchild because you read those books that you read yourself.

‘It’s just lovely, and she’s a wee lamb. She’s a credit to you. She’s an absolute angel.’

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Lorraine also weighed in on the change in attitude to working mums and pregnancy as she explained how it used to be taboo to see pregnant women on TV. 

Taking to her Instagram Story, Rosie shared a snap of her hotel room as she looked back on the past few days, penning: ‘Well we got married…’

Steve proposed to Rosie two years ago in June 2024 while Rosie was pregnant with their first child

Last month, Rosie celebrated her hen party by jetting abroad with her pals, where she indulged in plenty of glasses of champagne

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She sported a bridal veil and fun white sequinned mini dress as she celebrated her wedding with her pals

Rosie posted snaps from her wild hen party with her pals on Instagram, including an embroidered bridal veil and a matching mini dress 

‘Back then that would have been 1993/94 when I was pregnant, it still was quite unusual for pregnant women to be on television, especially every day and especially live television.

‘It wasn’t as frowned upon as it was in the 80s. I mean, I do remember the real trailblazer was Anne Diamond, because Anne was sitting on the sofa pregnant and she made it easier for all the rest of us to follow behind her.’

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When Rosie had her baby Lorraine wrote on Instagram: ‘I have been BURSTING to share this wonderful news with you! Baby Billie is an angel and I’m so proud of Rosie and Steve who will be the best parents. 

‘I’m delighted to be Granny Smith and can’t wait to go on adventures.’

Rosie added: ‘Baby Billie Kelly Smith-White is here 29-08-2024.’

‘It feels like she’s been here the whole time and we’re not quite sure what the point of anything was before.

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‘I’d heard how amazing midwives are but they are genuinely walking angels – she’s been welcomed into the world with so much love already.’

Dominick Anthony Occhicone has been executed four decades after he carried out a double-murder at an ex-girlfriend’s house

A Florida man has become the oldest person in the state’s history to be executed after he received the lethal injection at the age of 80. Dominick Anthony Occhicone was put to death for the 1986 double murder of Raymond and Martha Artzner.

The couple were the parents of Dominick’s ex-girlfriend Anita Gerrety. Occhicone became the 12th person to be put to death in Florida in 2026, and the second in one calendar day.

His death came almost four decades after his brutal crime, reports the Mirror. At around 3am on June 10, 1986, Occhicone knocked on the door at his ex-partner’s parents property in Pasco County, hoping to rekindle his relationship with Anita.

Court records say Occhicone left the property after Anita threatened to call the local sheriff. However, he returned an hour later with a lethal intent.

Raymond attempted to call the sheriff’s office but the phone line had been cut at the junction box, prosecutors said. Occhicone went on to shoot Raymond in the face.

According to the Herald-Tribune, Occhicone then broke through the door of the property and chased his ex through the house, but she managed to escape with her daughter, she testified.

A short while later she heard gunshots ring out behind her. Her mother, Martha, was later found dead at the property.

Prosecutors say Raymond lived long enough to tell deputies who shot him but died in hospital. Occhicone did not deny the incident but later argued it was not premeditated.

A jury of his peers didn’t believe his claim and he has been on death row ever since. Earlier this week the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected his final appeal, and his execution went ahead, 40 years after the brutal killings.

It meant Occhicone became the oldest person in modern history to be executed in Florida. He is also the second-oldest person to be put to death in the US after the execution of 83-year-old Walter Moody in 2018.

Occhicone was executed six hours after 68-year-old James Duckett. The former policeman died by lethal injection for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee while he was working in central Florida in 1987.

He was the 11th inmate to be executed in Florida in 2026. He declined to make a final statement when asked, simply responding “no sir”.

Four minutes later, he was shaken by a prison warden who also shouted his name. Duckett was found to be unresponsive and confirmed dead shortly after.

He was given a lethal injection made up of three drugs at Florida state prison, near Starke. The deaths of Duckett and Occhicone were the first double execution in Florida since 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie were both executed in the electric chair.

The last time any state carried out two executions in a day was back in 2017, when Arkansas held back-to-back killings. Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis has made his state’s death chamber the busiest in the US as the end of his final term approaches.

He has previously said too many families have waited too long to see justice, leading to an uptick in lethal injections. Across the United States, use of the death penalty has been in decline for more than two decades.

There has however been an upturn due to Florida. Since 2025, the state has carried out almost half of the executions across the whole of the United States.

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